The Delphi freshman receiver and defensive back is far and away the smallest player for the Oracles.

He got lost in the mass of teenagers, but all could hear his voice belt out a chant to signify the end of that day’s preparation for Friday’s sectional opener.

That is a huge step for Lowder, whose autism limits his social capabilities.

Because of football, Lowder is starting to overcome the shyness created by his neurological disability.

Weston Windell is Lowder's favorite player because, "he is the quarterback."

After every touchdown pass, Windell comes to the sideline and knows Lowder is going to deliver a high five or fist bump.

Lowder is the ultimate football teammate and that does not go unnoticed.

For a recent school project, Lowder was left without partners to create a video for Laurie Kinzie’s interactive media class. So the teacher brainstormed ideas on what Lowder would like the focus of his video to be.

The answer was simple.

Football.

“It did turn out better than I thought,” Lowder said.

Football players Jacob Clouser, Dylan Hart, Jadon Kinzie and Windell volunteered to help their teammate with a football video that was the best of the bunch.

They titled it, “Riley Lowder, The Man.”

It’s a highlights montage format that includes Lowder tackling a ball carrier, catching a touchdown pass from Windell and being carried off the field on his teammates’ shoulders.

Laurie Kinzie was astonished how well the final product turned out and emailed the three-minute music video to school administrators.

“It just makes you feel like a proud dad seeing the kids take something like that on without much guidance from me,” Delphi football coach Josh Strasser said. “It is not like they came to me and said, hey, can we do this?”

It’s exactly the impact Andrea “Missi” Lowder hoped a small town would provide for her son when the family moved from Greenfield.

“Where we came from is a bigger school and he wouldn’t be able to (play sports),” she said. “My husband and I were both raised (in Greenfield) and we were a little disappointed that they were nonchalant. When he was in sixth grade, they said he probably wouldn’t graduate and you need to accept that and move on.”

Not only did the Lowders not accept that, they embraced it as a challenge.

She refused to enroll him in special education courses.

After Riley finished seventh grade, they moved to Delphi.

As an eighth grader, he played basketball and ran track.

As a freshman, he wanted to join the football team.

“I like being out here because I just want to have fun with football,” Riley said before Tuesday’s practice.

Initially, Strasser was reserved.

He met with the family to better understand how he could help include Riley.

His ultimate goal was to break through to Riley and get him to open up.

The process didn’t take long.

Riley showed up at all the summer workouts. He arrived on time every day when practices began in August during the Midwest heat wave.

He never spoke until he was 4 years old. Now in a new environment on the gridiron, Riley fell back into that shell.

“Over the summer, I didn’t hear him speak. I didn’t even know what his voice sounded like,” Windell said. “Once the season began, we started taking him under our wing and he opened up to us.”

Lowder now has no reservations breaking down the team huddle after practice. Sometimes he even sings in front of the team, showing off his choir skills.

That meant more to Delphi’s football program than any of its five victories this season.

“He started being more social and that is a pretty cool feeling,” Hart said. “He looked up to us older guys.”

Riley looked up to them, but he quickly became one of them.

Riley Lowder pulls off his helmet for a quick drink after a practice drill.(Photo: Sam King/Journal & Courier)

During lunch, Lowder sits with his football friends.

In practice, he’ll readily jump in as a scout team player. Just two months ago, he spent practices standing in the background watching.

He’s not immune the physical nature of the sport, either.

Windell laughs while telling a story of Lowder getting run over by Clouser, a senior lineman who nearly triples Lowder’s size.

“He took a hit from (Clouser) and he strapped his helmet, got back up and started playing again,” Windell said. “He does not quit. It definitely changes your perspective of the game.”

Lowder’s role with the Oracles is mostly on special teams with the junior varsity team and that’s more than enough to leave an irreplaceable smile on his face.

His favorite thing to do is run down the field on kickoffs.

Coaches will advise Lowder to key on a certain player. He’ll rarely acknowledge that he understands his duties, but every time performs his task exactly as it was explained to him.

“With the social inabilities that he has with his autism, being a part of a team is huge to help him take steps on those inabilities he is presented with and things he has to work really hard to overcome,” Strasser said.

Among the topics covered when Strasser first talked to Andrea Lowder was that he wanted Riley to know he could be blocked and tackled, just like he was taught to block and tackle an opposing player.

Strasser feared potential injury.

Riley Lowder did not.

“I said, ‘Riley, you could get hit really bad,’” Andrea told her son when he decided he wanted to play football. “He said, ‘I’m OK. I’m a man now, Mom.’ ”